Caffeine-sensitive cells could let diabetics control their blood sugar without the injections

Home / Diabetes / Caffeine-sensitive cells could let diabetics control their blood sugar without the injections
  • People with type 1 diabetes and many with type 2 have to constantly monitor their blood sugar levels and control them with insulin shots
  • Swiss scientists developed cells that release insulin when they detect caffeine
  • Coffee has also been shown to have protective effects against diabetes 
  • The experimental system proved safe in mice 
  • If it works in humans, people with diabetes could replace their two or more insulin injections with a caffeinated drink before each meal  

Coffee could be the new insulin injection for diabetes sufferers, new research suggests.

OUT WITH THE OLD, IN WITH THE JOE: A cup of coffee before breakfast could soon replace a morning blood sugar tests and insulin shots for many diabetics thanks to engineered cells

OUT WITH THE OLD, IN WITH THE JOE: A cup of coffee before breakfast could soon replace a morning blood sugar tests and insulin shots for many diabetics thanks to engineered cells

For the 1.25 that have type 1 diabetes, injecting insulin is an essential part of their daily routines, as it is for many of some 30 million Americans with type 2 diabetes.

But Swiss researchers have retooled kidney cells to release insulin on commands delivered through caffeine.

If their bioengineering experiment works as well in humans as it did in mice, a simple sip of coffee could trigger insulin production and eliminate the needles once and for all.

Diabetes is fifth most common chronic disease in the US.

The insulin-production condition kills nearly 80,000 people a year, and drastically raises risks for other potentially fatal conditions, including heart disease.

For those born with a diminished ability to produce insulin – a key hormone to the break down and use of glucose from food for energy – type 1 diabetes is manageable, but only by constantly monitoring their blood sugar levels and injecting themselves with a shot of insulin two or more times a day.

The injections are an effective but far from perfect treatment for the chronic condition.

Without insulin, a person with diabetes’s blood sugar levels can get too high, they are liable to get a headache, feel weak and even lose consciousness.

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